I was run over by a car and racially abused for being an immigrant

As soon as I saw the car lights just before the van ran over me, I asked God to please guide me and take care of me so that I could get home.

In that moment of loneliness, I felt like the only person that could save me was God. 

Just moments earlier, three men had randomly attacked me and hurled racist slurs my way. As a Colombian immigrant living in the UK for the last 12 years, it’s not the first hate crime I’ve experienced and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

As I was cycling home from Broxbourne station one evening in March, I felt tired after a long day of work in my construction job so I was ready to relax. 

About 10 minutes into my journey, I noticed a Mercedes van driving towards me from the opposite direction, so I moved over to the side to let it pass.

I had to turn right into the parking lot near where I lived but as I was turning, the van sped towards me and gave me no room to pass. So of course, I fell off my bike.

Thankfully, I wasn’t injured by this fall so I got up but a man got out of the truck and without saying anything, punched me in the face.

Since I speak little English, I asked him in Spanish: ‘Que pasa, yo no te conozco’ (which means, ‘What’s your problem, I don’t even know you’). But he just started yelling racial slurs.

I took my bike and food and started to walk away but then two other men got out of the vehicle and walked over to me.

I was scared and by this time it was drizzling and dark. They wouldn’t leave me alone and continued to yell racist slurs at me like ‘black’, ‘idiot’, ‘bastard’ and ‘foreigner’.

Then one guy got back in the van – while the other two followed – and then sped it violently towards me. The hit sent me flying across the street.

The impact was so hard that it knocked me unconscious. Once I woke up a few minutes later, I couldn’t move so I yelled ‘help’ a few times but no one was around. I looked around and noticed that the three men had fled.

I immediately reached for my phone and called my friend, who luckily arrived within 10 minutes. I didn’t call 999 but while I was waiting in excruciating pain for my friend to arrive, a local must’ve called an ambulance.

Looking back, I’m glad I fell unconscious because I imagine that if they saw I was still alive, they probably would have run me over a few times.

An ambulance came shortly after and they checked me over. I felt very cold because of the rain. Around 20 minutes later, the police came to ask me questions while I was still in the street, like my name and my recollection of what happened.

I didn’t really know how to answer their questions because I could barely see who hit me. It was so dark when it happened and there was no one around.

I’m in the hospital now and they’ve done many scans and X-rays.

My ribs are fractured along with my left knee and I can’t move. They couldn’t operate because I had Covid-19, so we had to wait for that to pass first. The doctors are testing and checking up on me every day, and I’m slowly improving.

They’ve said my ribs will take 10 to 12 weeks to heal, but I’m hanging in there. I can barely move around – my ribs, my knees and fractures all hurt. 

I often can’t sleep because of the pain, but there are other times where I try to and the image of the van keeps me up. This is as much emotional as it is physical, so I don’t know how long recovery will take. 

I never thought a violent attack like this would happen to me. I would never harm anyone. I work to support my children and help my mum in Colombia.

I left my home country in the 1990s because of the knock on effects of La Violencia – a civil war in Colombia, which gave rise to many guerilla movements – and everything happening with drug trafficking at the time made living there unsafe. I spoke to a friend in Spain and moved there soon after – living there for eight years.

In 2008, I finally got a visa and moved to London to work in construction. London is much more expensive compared to where I’m from so I spend most of my time working.

Before the incident, I was relatively happy. I had a life, a job, friends and I played football.

I will always be grateful to this country for letting me be here. London is a wonderful city with so many opportunities and beautiful sights. Since I was a child, I always wanted to know London. I love this city, but unfortunately it has problems like anywhere else.

I often noticed racism, but I just had to keep going. People would look at me a certain way or flat out call me ‘black’ or an immigrant. They have no idea how long it takes for people here to get documentation.

People called me names on the street because of my skin colour and it makes me feel like I don’t belong. Or I’d be on the Tube and some people would give me looks or insult me.

Even though I didn’t report any of the previous incidents to the police, after this recent attack I think it’s so important for immigrants to report hate crimes. People need to know how much of a struggle it is to live in this country as an immigrant. I have received both verbal and physical abuse.

People are so vulnerable on the street and this will keep happening – no doubt. All people – but especially immigrants – must stay alert and take care of themselves.

We go out at night, and don’t know if we’ll make it back. I am a relatively strong man and look at what happened.

I don’t wish the attackers’ bad faith or anything and I’m not sure what the future holds for me. I feel like I have nowhere to go now but I just want my life to be normal again.

I don’t know what will happen when I leave the hospital, I can’t go back to that place – an area I only recently moved into in the two weeks before the incident.

I want to continue my life, help my family, live calmly, help my kids; anyone that needs it.  

As told to Natali Dare.

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